


Bandages.

by sonnet_18



Category: Togainu no Chi
Genre: Bandages, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 10:47:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12479840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonnet_18/pseuds/sonnet_18
Summary: Motomi was late and Akira wondered if his partner was injured somewhere...





	Bandages.

 

“I’m back~!”

 

Akira bolted from the kitchen once he heard the sound of the door unlocking to declare Motomi’s return. The assistant was about to give him an earful for making him worry and demand why Motomi took so long to return from a short meeting with a detective!

 

However, Akira lost his voice when he saw his partner’s haggard state, despite his smile.

 

“Ah, I’m tired ahaha.”

 

“W-What’s wrong? Did something happened?”

 

Akira stepped closer to study Motomi up close. He looked fine and his smile as handsome as always but something felt… off.

 

“Hmm? No, nothing’s wrong.” Motomi grinned though he wobbled a bit when trying to take off his shoes. “Sorry I took forever to come home. The detective and I had a minor argument.”

 

Then Motomi stared at him with his head cocked to the side.

 

Akira blinked, “…What?”

 

“Nah, seeing your face really made me feel so much better. Akira, I love you.”

 

Akira half expected to be pulled for a hug or a kiss but instead the taller male just walked past him.

 

 He blinked then chased after Motomi’s retreating figure, “W-wait, your coat.”

 

“Hmm? Oh, it’s fine.” Motomi stepped away as if conscious of having bad breath, “I want to wash this off. It stinks ‘cause I was near a dumpster.”

 

He smiled awkwardly and retreated further.

 

Akira was confused as he often did their laundry and what’s more, his sharp nose caught a scent that’s anything but garbage.

 

“O-Ossan, wait!”

 

Akira quickly jogged to block Motomi from entering their master bedroom.

 

“What about your dinner?”

 

Motomi blinked sluggishly then smiled, he was about to pull out his hands from his pockets to pat Akira’s head but stopped himself. His hands remained in the pockets where Akira knew he stored his notebook and wallet.

 

“Sorry, maybe… later. I want to nap first, if I eat now I might snooze and poke my nose with those chopsticks.”

 

Motomi grinned but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He walked past Akira to their bedroom and closed the door. Alone in the hallway, again the younger man felt mildly alarmed when he picked up the same scent.

 

“This smell…”

 

He hoped it’s just his imagination.

 

“Ossan…”

 

*******

 

In their kitchen, Akira packed away their dinner. His mind a thunderstorm of worries and questions. It’s been an hour and he debated with himself to stay out in the living room or to check up on his partner in their bedroom. The cheery journalist was unusually quiet. Exhaustion and stress were common in their line of work but tonight Motomi was more… subdued and haggard than usual.

 

Not to mention the faint smell of… blood and antiseptic.

 

“Maybe he was tending the injured?”

 

Akira recalled that sometimes when they reached an accident to report, Motomi would go head first to tend the wounded. Often the paramedics were understaffed and they would be grateful for someone with medical background knowledge to assist them. So the smell of blood shouldn’t alarmed Akira so much.

 

“But he went to meet the detective. There wasn’t any incident in the news today…”

 

Did something happen with the detective? There were no visible bruises on Motomi’s face to show signs of a fight… He regretted again for the umpteenth time why he didn’t accompany his lover on the meet up. Maybe Motomi’s notebook would hold clues or should he check his phone?

 

But… snooping behind his lover’s back like that felt wrong.

 

Akira tried to recall anything that happened this morning that may triggered his partner’s unusual behavior but nothing came to mind. After all, compared to Akira, Motomi was much more patient, calm and collected.

 

Sighing, he finally abandoned the task of washing the dishes and went to their bedroom.  He was about to carefully twist the door knob quietly but then he heard the faint sounds of groaning from their bed!

 

Alarmed, the assistant immediately opened the door and stepped into the dark and cold room!

 

“Ossan?”

 

More pained sounds emitted from the wrapped human bundle on the bed!!

 

Akira ran to the bed, he attempted to pull the blanket to check for Motomi’s condition. Was he having a fever? A nightmare? Living together for a few years, Akira had his share of experiencing Motomi’s PTSD.

 

“Ossan!!”

 

“Akira… keep your voice down please… my head…”

 

The journalist whimpered weakly from under the many pillows he made a fortress of.

 

Akira panicked, “I knew something was wrong! What happened?”

 

Motomi grunted as he fluffed up a pillow and laid his head gently.

 

“Please, love, lower your voice. My head’s pounding, my arms aching, my legs… even my ass hurts…”

 

Akira narrowed his eyes, “Your ass…”

 

“What? You don’t believe me? Everything hurts. Urgh… To be honest I don’t want you to know I was… shot.”

 

Akira was on the edge of the bed, he was in the midst of pulling away a few pillows to unearthed his lover beyond the fortress before he froze.

 

“Shot?!”

 

That detective did something to his partner after all!! 

 

Akira was ready to hunt the suspect when Motomi struggled to pull down the blanket to show a bandaid of a cute puppy cartoon on his upper arm.

 

“Shot.”

 

Motomi pointed in explanation. His face pitiful as if it was the biggest tragedy of all.

 

Akira blinked again, “You got shot… by injection?”

 

The journalist laughed.

 

“It’s difficult to be shot by a knife.”

 

“But… but why? Are you sick?”

 

Now that his eyesight adjusted to the darkness, Akira pulled down more of the blanket to have a better view of Motomi. Other than the funny bandaid, Akira saw to his horror that Motomi’s chest were clearly bruised under the bandages with several red welts that looked like scratches that hadn’t quite broken the skin. His forearms were bandaged heavily and his hands were badly scratched. The smell of antiseptic was stronger now that they’re close.

 

“Who hurt you?!”

 

The panic came back as all sorts of gruesome scenario invaded his mind. “Give me a name!”

 

“Akira, please. Lower your voice. My head’s all woozy, you know. And it’s not _who_ but _what_.”

 

“What… do you mean?”

 

“I was… attacked by dogs. Really, really big dogs. Not just any pooch. Very mean, I tell ya.”

 

Akira tried to process Motomi’s rambling.

 

“How can you be attacked by a stray dog?”

 

“They’re very _big_ dogs.” Motomi emphasized with a grumble, “After I met the detective, I stalked that corrupted politician’s home. I didn’t plan to infiltrate, was just observing from the gate, maybe I can take some photos too.”

 

“The womanizer?”

 

“Yep. It was strange that there were no guards around his palace. But boy was I wrong. They don’t need no guards when they have such big, mean dogs. Guard dogs, all 5 of ‘em the size of baby goats.”

 

Motomi sluggishly made a show of measuring the size.

 

“Big, rough and mean. Bet he named them Betsy, Lily, Rosie and Daisy in that order. Yep. You gotta see it, sweetie, I’m not kidding.” He muttered pitifully. “Mean and evil.”

 

Akira tried to process more of Motomi’s rambling. He was speaking a little funny. The older man had always been the type to talk animatedly. But tonight he was… more out of it. Plus, he used endearment to Akira as if writing embarrassing love letters.

 

“What injection shot did you get?”

 

He asked, trying to focus back about the injuries rather than blushing.

 

“Tetanus and rabies. Damn shots, I feel so sore all over. As if I’m a big ol’ dog myself. Hun, let me know tomorrow if I grow fur in the morning. I don’t want to see myself in the mirror.”

 

Motomi’s behavior rang a bell in Akira’s recollection. Sometimes the injured had to be given strong painkillers, some caused side effects.

 

Funny side effects as if they’re high.

 

“Nope, no mirror for me. What if I grow so much fur on my ass? Buying shampoo will be a pain.”

 

Akira covered his mouth. Seeing Motomi not fully aware of the random things he said was just so…

 

“Okay… no mirror or shampoo. Promise.” Akira stifled a laugh but quickly became serious. “I can’t believe you hid this from me. Why didn’t you say anything?”

 

Motomi sighed and buried his face in the pillows, “I don’t want you to see me like this.”

 

“And then what? I’ll still see everything sooner or later.”

 

“Well… yeah. But come on, Akira, I was being foolishly overconfident and got carelessly attacked by those canines. I wanted to lick my wounds and hide from you. Besides… I’m cranky and I can’t stop talking. You can’t have a big baby to care for just when you just got better from your fever.”

 

Akira sighed, even when Motomi’s high on drugs and in pain, his partner still worried about others.

 

Frowning, he moved closer and gently touched Motomi’s back, “I want you to promise not to hide away again. I knew something was weird the moment you stepped into the house.”

 

Motomi grunted then cracked open one eye to look up at Akira’s sad face.

 

“I thought my natural acting was fabulous. How did you know something was wrong with me?”

 

Akira froze, stumped in surprised. Then he looked away, stumbling his words a bit.

 

“You usually do… that… to me whenever you come home.”

 

Motomi blinked sluggishly in confusion, “…Hmm?”

 

“You always… give me a hug and a… a kiss.” Akira said the last part with a pink face, embarrassed to even say the word. He had his eyes on his lap, clenching and unclenching his fingers awkwardly. “S-so I knew something was weird when you were strangely… far and distant. Like you don’t want me to touch you…”

 

The assistant expected Motomi to laugh or tease him. Instead there was a long silence. Confused, Akira looked up, “O…Ossan?”

 

A soft snore replied him.

 

Motomi fell asleep, possibly he didn’t hear Akira’s explanation at all! Embarrassed for looking like a fool in talking to himself, Akira huffed and moved to leave the bed, determined to head out of the room. But the sounds of Motomi’s groans reached his ears halted him.

 

He turned to look over his shoulder and saw his companion sleeping restlessly. Sighing, Akira climbed back to bed, sat on his heels and reached for the blanket. He planned to tuck Motomi in but the moment he gently touched him, Motomi suddenly moved towards him!

 

“O-oi!”

 

As if seeking out his warmth, Akira got pulled and pinned down as Motomi flopped his head on Akira’s chest. His bandaged arms delicately rested on the assistant’s stomach.

 

“Hey, get off me.”

 

The younger man expected Motomi was just pretending to sleep and teasing him but Motomi really was asleep and his face crumpled in pain. He acted as if he pulled a pillow to snuggle in bed; a life size Akira pillow.

 

Unable to escape or even the strength to push the heavy Motomi back to his pillow, Akira gave up. Reaching for the blankets, Akira pulled it up over them and tried to make himself comfortable. Good thing their bed was big enough to fit the two of them.

 

Looking down, he saw Motomi’s sleeping face still marred in agony.

 

“It hurts…”, he mumbled in his drugged up sleep.

 

Gently Akira reached up to pat Motomi’s head from top to the base of the neck. Soothing him like a child as he recalled Motomi did the same when he was bedridden with fever. Slowly the bigger man calmed down and soon enough soft snores resumed from the sleeping figure. Akira wondered if his touch helped even a bit in easing Motomi’s pain.

 

Even so Akira didn’t cease his actions and continue to pat him from his head to his back. To be honest Akira enjoyed this. He didn’t get much chance to touch and savor his lover in a non-sexual way. Akira could smell his faint scent of tobacco and musk. The feel of Motomi’s soft brown, hair between his fingers. The mass of muscles from Motomi’s broad back. His body warmth…  

 

Motomi had always tried to be the stronger one for the both of them, but tonight…

 

“Tonight, let me have my turn to watch over you.”

 

Akira whispered as he shyly placed a kiss on Motomi’s head. He didn’t get his good night kiss so for now this will do. He’s grateful Motomi was too far gone to realize the little smooch.

 

“Don’t make me worry again, Ossan. I hate it…”

 

Akira made an oath with himself that he’ll insist to stay by Motomi’s side during work. And be more aware if Motomi act strange or secretive. He already lost Keisuke, he didn’t know where Nano was in this world but…

 

Akira hugged his lover close in a protective embrace.

 

But he’ll never fail Motomi, he’ll never lose someone he cared about ever again. In sickness and in health, he’ll do anything as they swore to be together to the grave. With that in mind, Akira too felt his exhaustion caught up with him and succumbed to slumber. Never once letting go of his protective hold around the wounded man. The love of his life.

 

\------

 

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End?

 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this silly story after I first saw the TnC novel where Motomi got shot. Gorgeous man, how could he still look good bleeding in pain like seriously how anjdvnajs anyway initially I want to write where Motomi lay his head on Akira's lap and wanted some loving. Instead we got mushy lines and a drugged up Motomi who couldn't stop rambling about big ol' dogs XD 
> 
> Okay I planned to write a more serious and longer story in the next submission. 
> 
> Thank you to anyone who managed to finish reading this random oneshot.


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